If content is king, protecting your content makes common sense

James Cridland’s article on CRA’s submission to the Digital Platforms Inquiry misunderstands the issues surrounding content protection and third party aggregators.

Under the proposals, listeners will still be able to consume live and on-demand radio content on a variety of platforms and products, whether owned by broadcasters or third party entities.

The key point is that we object to the unauthorised use of broadcaster content where there is no commercial benefit (monetary or otherwise) for the content creators and owners.

The industry does value third parties linking to radio stations online, in a way that works for listeners, radio stations and their clients; although the industry needs to be able to have a say on what those arrangements are.

The use of aggregated hyperlinks by commercial entities, mostly based overseas, diverts listeners from Australian broadcaster platforms to aggregator sites over which stations have no control and no entitlement to request payment.

In terms of mobile apps, third party aggregators derive revenue on multiple fronts, including by serving advertising to listeners in the form of display or audio advertising that is delivered ‘on top’ of a radio station’s audio stream. Often this can result in a sub-optimal experience for listeners and advertisers.

Unfortunately, under the existing legal framework it can be difficult to require the removal of such hyperlinks to legitimate websites.

Our submission does not propose restricted access to podcasts; podcasting has grown and thrived because of access via a multitude of third party podcast apps. The Australian radio industry is Australia’s leading investor in podcast creation and promotion, and has benefited from having its content being available everywhere.

The radio industry invests significant resources in the daily creation of live and local content. Every day, thousands of Australians are employed by the radio industry to create live and local content that connects with local communities in locations all over Australia.

Broadcasters have long been working to protect their investment in content and an extra level of intellectual property protection will assist.

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2 Comments

as a listener, i could not care less about these piddly little things.

for me, i want to access content in a way that works for me. for example, i do all my listening at home though a smart speaker - i'm not even sure i own a radio capable of picking up broadcast bands anymore.

One station i listened to had issues and was not available though the smart speaker. I didn't rush out and buy a radio to listen to it. I simply went to a competitor - in this case, a competitor from overseas.

With the prevalence of streaming it would be worth remembering that you are no longer competing with those in your local area - your now competing worldwide, and if i can't get the content i want, how i want it - i'll go elsewhere

James Cridland

26 February 2019 - 9:44pm

"Commercial radio stations are increasingly directing their resources towards the removal of their intellectual property from third party aggregator sites and mobile apps. Typically, such sites provide ‘listen live’ links to station broadcasts or enable consumers to access stations’ podcasts. This diverts traffic – and ultimately advertising revenue - away from the stations’ own websites.” - Joan Warner yesterday, in the CRA's press release.

"Our submission does not propose restricted access to podcasts; podcasting has grown and thrived because of access via a multitude of third party podcast apps. The Australian radio industry is Australia’s leading investor in podcast creation and promotion, and has benefited from having its content being available everywhere." - Joan Warner today, above.